Fundraisers and LOI!

Here's the latest mass e-mail that I sent out.. it summarizes fundraisers and things well!!!

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Hello to everyone tonight!!!
As most of you know we received some VERY exciting news a few weeks ago… We received our LOI (Letter Of Invitation) from the country of Kazakhstan. For those of you who are unfamiliar with international adoption from Kaz… this is a form/letter, etc.. that you are required to obtain before you can travel to the country (region) that you have been assigned to (Region of Pavlodar for us) and visit the orphanage/baby house and meet available children.. This form is the final step in the process and receiving your LOI is one of the most exciting things that occurs… This is the form you WAIT for FOR YEARS!!!!!
We received our LOI after being in the process for 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days… WOW!!
Our LOI is dated May 14th – Aug. 15.. this means that we WILL travel within that window of time. We will receive exact travel dates from our agency and will know more then. Most everyone knows that I am off in the summers… therefore this again appears to be “perfect” timing!
We have had just a whirlwind of emotions and quite honestly still are in shock… It’s like we’ve waited FOREVER for this to happen… know and felt it in our hearts for years… and can hardly believe we are very close to really seeing it come to pass…
I have joked and told several people that my emotions are strange… a weird circle of emotions.. excitement, fear, shock, etc… all to end back at shock!! Ha ha..
So… as you can imagine the financial portion of the adoption is the most stressful.. Yes, we know that God told us to do this… and YES we KNOW he will provide!!! We have a deep peace that all things are fine and we are standing on the word, quoting it over this very journey..
I am going to be very transparent here… If we bring home 2 children (there is a chance that there might not be siblings available) the total cost from beginning to end will be around $58,000. We have tried so very hard to not think about the financial portion of this journey over the past few years… we’ve KNOWN and God has shown us SO MANY times that he will provide!!! He has proven himself time and time again during this journey!!
We do not have the money to complete the adoption… we still need around $30,000. It’s really hard to know the exact amount of money we’ll need for lots of reasons… so that is the best estimate we have at this point. We don’t know how things will work… we don’t know if we’ll have to take off from our jobs with NO pay.. we will still have monthly bills to maintain as well.. so as you can see there are LOTS of ???’s… This is FAITH defined!!! and we are being stretched beyond belief… let me just tell you that when you look at all this through natural/fleshly eyes.. it is IMPOSSIBLE! We chose to TRUST our God! The word says it and we believe it!
Please continue to pray for us and this journey.. and the child(ren) waiting on us in Kazakhstan! J
As you can imagine we have been tossing around a lot of fundraising ideas.. we have the following things happening now:
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~ SONIC NIGHT~ Perkins Sonic is donating 10% of total sales between 5-8 PM on Tuesday night, January 26, 2010. Tuesday nights is also their Buy One Get One Free Burger night… so not only can you support our adoption, but you can save money as well!!! Please consider eating at Perkins Sonic on Tuesday January 26th, 2010 between 5 – 8 pm! Please tell ALL your family, friends, co-workers, etc… PLEASE help us!!!
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~Head Country Pork Ribs ~ We are selling slabs of pork ribs for $18.00 each. ALL orders are due Feb. 12, 2010. Please consider asking co-workers, friends, and family if they would like to purchase a slab of ribs. These are from the Head Country resturanrt in Ponca City.. they are FULLY cooked and delicious!!!! I will be happy to get order forms to ANYONE who would like to help us sell these!!! They will be delievered 1 -2 weeks later!!
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~Premier Jewelry Party ~
We are doing another Premier Jewelry Party.. if you missed out the first time around.. you have another chance!! I have catalogs available. If you are interested, please let me know! A couple of friends are having a party @ D’Mario’s pizza on Wed. Jan 27th if you’d like to come and see the jewelry in person… yummy food and extra promotions!! Come join us for some fun… or let me know if you’d like to see a catalog! Orders due soon!!
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~AVON~
A great friend/co-worker has started selling Avon with the complete purpose of giving ALL profits to our adoption from now until the adoption if finalized! She is doing almost ALL the work and donating ALL the profits! Thanks so much Janet! Contact me or Janet Kirkpatrick @ 918-223-5800 if you’d like to place an order or need a catalog. You can also order online by clicking here: http://shop.avon.com/shop/catalog.asp?omnCode=ClickHereForBrochure
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~RADA CUTLERY~
We are also still selling the RADA Cutlery. This is an AWESOME brand of knives and various other items VERY reasonably priced. I have catalogs available or YOU CAN SHOP ONLINE... PLACE your order and it will come to you DIRECTLY.. the company will then send us a portion of the proceeds!!! These are GREAT knives, peelers, etc... (I received the paring knife as a gift about 5 years ago.. it has NEVER been sharpened and it's the BEST knife I own to this day!! I later had the vegetable peeler given to me.. and I will NEVER use anything else.. makes peeling a BREEZE!!!! You will not believe these products, and they are CHEAP!!!! I will PERSONALLY refund your money if you are not satisfied!!!)There are some AWESOME gift sets available as well as numerous other products... Let me know if you'd like a catalog... and please shop online!!!! Here's the online info: www.helpourfundraiser.comInternet Ordering Number: 502358
Password: adoptionPlease log in using the above info... and then SHOP away!!!
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~COOKBOOKS~
We have a few cookbooks left… about 50, I believe… If you have cookbooks you are selling.. please check in with me.. I would like to know how many we have left, and where they are! Thanks so much.. if you’d like to sell some of these for us.. that would be GREAT!! They have turned out to be very popular and I think everyone has been VERY pleased with them!!
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PLEASE consider helping us out with one of the above fundraisers! If you have a fundraiser IDEA, please share… We have prayerfully considered LOTS of ideas…

I want to apologize to anyone who is tired of hearing about all of this from me/us.... if you are.. Please let me know, because I will stop including you in these mass e-mails. Please don’t worry… I have learned the hard way that everyone doesn’t “get” this… and that’s ok! The Lord “gets” it and being obedient and SOLD OUT to him is WAY more important than anything else in the world!!!

We also have people who have not paid for various items (cookbooks, pansies, yard sale items, lollipops, poinsettias, jewelry, pig tickets). If this is you, PLEASE let me know that you are aware of this. If you are unable to pay, no worries.. However, if you are/can.. we’d REALLY appreciate it! In some cases the outstanding money owed is almost taking all our profit.. :( Thanks so much for helping us out with this!

Thanks so very much for hanging in there with us during this LONG journey!! We are blessed to have had and continue to have such a network of love and support! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness, love, and support!!! We are SO very blessed!!!

So excited to see this journey completed and begin in 2010!!!

Love and prayers,
Lanetta (and family)